BlackBerry, VMware, Apple: Tech Premarket

BlackBerry is a gainer in premarket trading on Thursday, lifted by demand for its new smartphones.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Shares of BlackBerry ( BBRY) gained 0.89% to reach $15.79 before market open, lifted by recent positive news. The Canadian handset maker was also the most active premarket Nasdaq stock on share volume of 1,941,647.

BlackBerry on Wednesday said that one of its partners placed an order for 1 million of its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones, the largest-ever single purchase order in BlackBerry's history. "An order for one million devices is a tremendous vote of confidence in BlackBerry 10," said Rick Costanzo, EVP global sales, BlackBerry, in a blog posting.

Earlier this week, the Waterloo, Ontario.-based firm announced that it will start selling its new Z10 touchscreen phone on March 22. The Z10 is the first BlackBerry 10 phone to hit the market, followed by its Q10 device, which comes with a QWERTY keyboard.

VMware ( VMW) shares, which popped on Wednesday following the company's strategicfForum with parent company EMC ( EMC), were up in premarket trading.

The two companies Wednesday fleshed out their plan to create a new company, Pivotal, aimed at the booming big data market. EMC will own 69% of the spinoff, while VMware will own the remaining 31%. Virtualization specialist VMware also raised its operating margin outlook.

VMware shares rose 1.39% to $82.50 before the bell on Thursday. EMC crept up 0.72% to $25.08.